DHS reopening deal on shaky ground amid bipartisan backlash

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▪ DHS deal falling apart?

▪ Florida Dem scores upset win

▪ Pentagon orders more troops to Middle East

▪ CPAC starts in Texas

A deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking fire from both sides of the aisle after appearing to gain momentum just a day earlier.

While Senate Republicans and the White House signaled earlier in the week that President Trump would back the emerging proposal to end the 40-day DHS shutdown, the president told reporters Tuesday he would take a “hard look” at the deal, suggesting he wasn’t sold.

The plan would have Congress fund almost all of the department, with some additional funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set aside and advanced under a separate reconciliation bill that could pass without Democratic support.

But Senate Democrats rejected that proposal, saying it still didn’t make the substantive changes to immigration enforcement they have insisted on for weeks.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Democrats would submit a counteroffer to the GOP, but they are still insisting on reforms to “rein in” ICE, keeping to their key demand that Republicans have repeatedly refused.

“Every one of my colleagues, every one, A) believes we should be unified, and, B) we need reforms of ICE — every single one,” Schumer said following a meeting with his fellow Democratic senators.

Democrats aren’t the only ones who pose an obstacle to the deal coming together. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports the proposal is also facing attacks from conservative Republicans, quickly reversing any momentum the idea might have had.

Some conservatives expressed skepticism about the viability of the plan given the difficulty of passing a reconciliation bill with only Republican votes in a closely divided Congress, Bolton reported.

House Republicans are similarly pushing back, The Hill’s Mike Lillis, Emily Brooks and Sudiksha Kochi report.

“I can tell you, the House has funded DHS twice. We’re prepared to do it again. Completely fund the entire department. That is the responsible way to do this thing. So, we’ve been very resistant to any idea to break it apart,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters.

Another key element of the plan is to include parts of the SAVE America Act, a key legislative priority for the president, in the reconciliation bill. But members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus expressed doubt that parts of the voting requirements bill can be included given rules surrounding the reconciliation process.

With such intense opposition coming from all sides, efforts to end the shutdown and restore funding and paychecks for TSA workers may be going back to square one just as newly minted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin starts his first full day on the job.

This could prolong a shutdown already set to break the record for length in U.S. history this weekend. Lawmakers only have a few days to try to prevent the situation from carrying on for at least two more weeks.

Both chambers of Congress remain in session through Friday but are scheduled to go on a two-week recess for Easter starting next week. If no deal is reached by the end of the week, that would likely ensure the DHS shutdown continues through mid-April.

That will add to pressures at airports that have increasingly been hounded by issues as the shutdown has carried on.

ICE officers have now been deployed to help beleaguered Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees who are dealing with more and more staffing issues as additional agents call out. White House border czar Tom Homan said Monday that ICE officers are stationed at 14 of the country’s busiest airports and he expects the number to grow.

The percentage of TSA employees marked absent nationwide surpassed 10 percent for another day Monday. Airports in cities such as Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans saw the highest call-out percentages, approaching or surpassing 40 percent, while others in New York City, Baltimore and Pittsburgh surpassed 25 percent, according to data from DHS.

The deployment of ICE officers has added another angle of frustration for Democrats in the ongoing standoff over DHS funding and the role of immigration enforcement agents as they have slammed the administration’s move.

Wait times at airports are varying widely, with officials warning travelers in some cities to expect hours-long waits.

▪ The Hill: Union president tells lawmakers not to leave without paying TSA.

▪ Time: Why are airport wait times so long?

3 Things to Know Today

Democrats have flipped a state House district in Florida that includes the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in a special election. The party also flipped a state Senate district based in Tampa.

Trump has formally endorsed his ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of his country’s parliamentary elections next month. Polls have shown Orbán’s party trailing in the race.

Another war powers resolution failed mostly along party lines after Senate Democrats tried again to restrict Trump’s authority in Iran. The 53-47 vote against the measure is a repeat of a vote taken last week.

STRAIT RESTRICTION CHANGE: Iran has agreed to allow “non-hostile” vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Iranian authorities and meet safety regulations.

Multiple outlets reported Iran’s Foreign Ministry updated its stance in a letter to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which said it has circulated the statement with its members and nongovernmental organizations. The ministry also shared its note with the United Nations Security Council.

Iran said it has taken “necessary and proportionate measures” to prevent “aggressors and their supporters from exploiting” the strait to conduct hostilities against it. It specifically noted that any vessels, equipment and assets belonging to the U.S. and Israel and others participating in the “aggression” aren’t eligible.

While the extent of the change isn’t immediately clear, it could help mitigate oil prices that have continued to soar globally over the past few weeks as the war has raged on. Trump said earlier Tuesday Iran gave the U.S. a “very big present” related to the flow of oil and gas in the strait.

Prices dropped Monday after Trump announced he was delaying threatened strikes on Iran’s power plants and starting conversations with Iranian leaders, but the extent of those talks has been shrouded in contradictory indicators.

Although Iran initially denied that any conversations were happening with the Trump administration, CNN reported Tuesday that an Iranian source said the U.S. had initiated “outreach” to Iran and Tehran was willing to listen to “sustainable” proposals to end the war.

The New York Times reported the U.S. sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war through Pakistan, as its top Army chief has emerged as a mediator between the two adversaries. The plan covers Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and maritime routes

Various Iranian officials showed defiance Tuesday evening with statements condemning the U.S.

“The one who once spoke of regime change and the fragmentation of Iran now hopes that someone in Iran will engage in dialogue with him; though this, too, is merely an attempt at deception,” said Saeed Jalili, a spokesperson for Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in a post on the social platform X.

“International law is dead in practice—driven by Western double standards on Gaza vs. Ukraine and silence on Israel–U.S. aggression on Iran,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a post on X.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon plans to deploy 2,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, increasing the U.S. military presence in the region, a source familiar with the matter told The Hill.

▪ The Hill: Venezuelan, Cuban hard-liners urge regime change.

▪ The Hill: International nuclear safety agency calls for ‘restraint.’

CPAC IN TEXAS: The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) starts today in Texas, welcoming top Republican candidates, influencers and activists from around the country.

Trump has dominated the convention for the past decade since he first rose as the party’s de facto leader, but he’s reportedly skipping the conference for the first time since he first took office in 2017.

The focus instead may shift to 2028 as some of the top potential contenders for the GOP presidential nomination compete in a shadow primary. One litmus test of where potential candidates stand will be CPAC’s annual straw poll, which could give an indication of the current mood and interests for some of the party’s most conservative elements.

Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are two of the top buzzed-about names going in.

Texas’s ongoing primary runoff between Sen. John Cornyn (R) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) also will loom over the convention. Paxton is scheduled to speak Friday, while Cornyn is not currently slated to make an appearance.

Both are still seeking Trump’s coveted endorsement to help them get over the finish line.

Read more from The Hill’s Caroline Vakil here on what to watch for at CPAC.

▪ The Hill: Trump preemptively endorses wife of GOP chair for Congress.

▪ The Dallas Morning News: Paxton to be a featured speaker while Cornyn skips event.

DEBATE CANCELED: A debate scheduled for the California gubernatorial race was canceled Tuesday following criticism over a lack of candidates of color invited to participate.

The debate was set to feature Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco and Democrats Eric Swalwell, Tom Steyer, Katie Porter and Matt Mahan, all of whom are white, at the University of Southern California (USC). The university said it had determined a formula to decide who makes the debate stage based on polling and fundraising.

But that left out four major Democratic candidates of color — Antonio Villaraigosa, Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee and Tony Thurmond.

The inclusion of Mahan, the San Jose mayor who has struggled in polling but raised significant amounts of money from Big Tech, particularly stirred backlash.

USC said it canceled the debate after it couldn’t agree with the broadcaster over how to expand the debate.

MINNESOTA LAWSUIT: Minnesota has sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a second time for evidence in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents earlier this year.

The case comes as the Trump administration has continued to refuse to conduct a joint investigation with the state into the deaths of the two protesters.

The state initially filed the case in Minnesota, but a federal judge last month refused to issue a restraining order against the federal government. Instead, Minnesota moved on Tuesday to dismiss that case and filed in Washington, D.C.

The lawsuit argues the administration is violating the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, infringing on Minnesota’s sovereignty.

▪ The Hill: Judge refuses to drop case against Elon Musk.

The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He will participate in the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit at 11 a.m. He will receive an intelligence briefing at 1 p.m. and participate in policy meetings at 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. He will deliver remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner at 7:20 p.m.

The House will convene at 10 a.m.

The Senate will meet at noon.

UAE UNDER FIRE: Over the duration of Iran’s retaliatory strikes throughout the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has faced considerably more attacks than any other Gulf state.

The Hill’s Filip Timotija reports the small semiconstitutional monarchy, located on the Arabian Peninsula, has intercepted most Iranian drones and missiles fired at it this month, but some have gotten through, hitting residential buildings, an oil port and the airport in Dubai.

Analysts told Timotija the UAE’s geographic proximity to Iran, just across the Persian Gulf, and its rise as a regional economic power have made it a key target for attacks from Tehran. Its increasingly closer ties in recent years with the U.S. and Israel and its hosting of a major U.S. base in Abu Dhabi, the capital, also add to the allure for Iran.

The UAE has been preparing for similar attacks for decades and has several ground-based air defense systems along with fighter jets. All of its defenses have been put to the test since the war began on Feb. 28.

While most attacks have been stopped, the Iranian missiles and drones have led to the deaths of two members of the UAE’s armed forces and six other individuals. More than 160 people have been injured.

“If the war ends soon, this performance will likely be recorded as a success,” said Marwa Maziad, a visiting lecturer of Israeli studies at the University of Maryland. “But if the conflict drags on, the cost and attrition dynamic could become a serious strategic problem.”

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Gulf states inch toward joining fight against Iran.

▪ The Hill: German president accuses U.S. of breaching international law.

NO KINGS RETURNS: The next iteration of the nationwide “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration are scheduled for this weekend, and organizers are promising the largest demonstrations yet.

Five million took part in the first No Kings protests last year on June 14, which is Flag Day and Trump’s birthday. Organizers followed it up with additional protests in October that saw 7 million demonstrators.

And millions more are set to take the streets Saturday in more than 3,000 rallies planned in cities across the country. Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, predicted the event would be the “largest protest in American history.”

Organizers have been planning the protests for months since the killings of Good and Pretti in Minneapolis. Immigration enforcement was originally planned to be the main topic, but the war in Iran has given the protests a new angle.

An estimated 4,000 protesters are expected to march past the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. And rock singer Bruce Springsteen is reportedly expected to perform his song “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he wrote about the standoff in Minneapolis, at a rally in St. Paul.

▪ MPR News: Tens of thousands expected for flagship St. Paul rally.

CONCESSION: North Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R) has conceded defeat following a recount in his contested Republican primary, falling short by 23 votes.

Berger lost to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page to represent North Carolina state Senate District 26. Berger’s loss is a seismic political development in the Tar Heel State, as he has led the state Senate for the past 15 years.

After asking for machine and hand recounts, Berger congratulated Page on his victory.

“Looking ahead, I remain committed to working with my colleagues in the short session to ensure North Carolina continues to be the best state in the nation in which to live, work, raise a family, and retire,” Berger said.

A self-proclaimed ‘super mayor’ is trying to outrun her controversial past, Charisma Peoples writes in The Hill.

Iran’s ‘nuclear’ option, Ross Douthat writes in The New York Times.

And finally … The former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fired last year by Trump is joining a drone tech company backed by two of the president’s sons.

Retired Gen. CQ Brown Jr. was removed from his role last February and replaced by Gen. Dan Caine. Now, Brown is joining the Florida-based company Powerus as an executive-in-residence and senior adviser, the company announced Tuesday.

Powerus is partially owned by the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. It produces autonomous drone systems for military and commercial use and competes for Pentagon projects.

Brown will advise the company on “defense strategy, autonomous systems deployment and national security partnerships.”

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